World of Warcraft Finally Gets Housing (With a Cheeky Dig at FF14) #
After 5 years of development, WoW players can finally own virtual real estate. But here's the spicy part:
Blizzard's throwing shade at Final Fantasy 14's notorious housing system:
- No lotteries
- No absurd costs
- Keep your house even if you unsub
- Available to everyone who wants one
Two separate zones for Alliance and Horde, with 50-plot neighborhoods. And yes, there will be some cash shop items (but they're promising to keep it reasonable).
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Proves Single-Player Games Still Rule #
While EA's crying about Dragon Age: Veilguard's performance, KCD2 just:
- Sold 1M copies in 24 hours
- Made profit on DAY ONE
- Became 2025's highest-rated game so far
Take that, "live service everything" strategy 🎯
Civilization 7's Rocky Start #
Looks like Firaxis rushed this one out the door:
- "Mostly Negative" reviews on Steam (1,200+ reviews)
- Players calling it "pre-alpha build"
- UI described as "total slop"
- Critics somehow gave it 81 on Metacritic
The disconnect between critic and user reviews? That's a story for another day.
Hi-Rez Hit by Layoffs Despite Smite 2 Development
Tough times at Hi-Rez:
- 69 employees reportedly laid off
- Affecting multiple departments
- Second round of cuts since October
- Good news: Smite 2 development continues
Sports Interactive just dropped a bombshell: FM25 is dead. No patches, no fixes, no release. Period.
Why? The dev team couldn't hit their quality targets, even after pushing back launch dates twice. Instead of shipping a mediocre product, they're cutting their losses and focusing on the next iteration.
Got a pre-order? Don't worry - full refunds are coming automatically through official SEGA retailers.